Dubai Crown Prince Endurance Cup – 18 March 2017

Mohammad Al Marri and F3 best of the best

Today was the final day of the Dubai Crown Prince Festival with the very much anticipated Dubai Crown Prince Endurance Cup.
Distance was 119km, spread over four loops: 39, 32, 30 and 18km.

This fourth race day of the week was proceeded with competitive racing, a good atmosphere and incredible high number of entries.

On Friday afternoon, there were not only pre-ride inspections and rider’s weigh-in but also pony races for the future champions.
It was some serious racing but it also brought a lighter moment to a very passionate filled week of high quality racing.

We saw a total of 325 entrants, with a quarter coming from abroad, for the pinnacle of racing.

First rider to come in after the first loop was Mansoor Al Sabri (Techno de la Basanne) and although he had a slightly longer recovery he kept his position.
The riders behind him were the usual top runners but a surprise position was for Rashed Al Mazrooie (Al Theeb) in 24th position and Salem Al Kitbi (Ormiu) who was 43rd

After the second loop the leading group was still close together led by Mohammad Al Marri (SM Jota Curado).
But also here we saw the same scenario as the previous days that top places shifted around and riders from behind climbed into the top ten.

The leading pack coming in at the third loop were 15 riders and the recovery would decide the peaking order for the final loop.

New leader was Salem Al Kitbi who by now was forgotten the long recovery time in the first loop but his advantage was only 14 seconds on Mohammad Al Marri. The top six was only separated by 26 seconds.

As expected the top six became one group after a short time.
Behind them Nesreen Khalid (Vista du Barthas) did a big effort to come closer to the front runners but the pace was too high. She finished sixth place, a well-managed race where she was never outside the top ten.

Salem Al Kitbi was the first contender to let go the others and would finally finish seventh: “The horse is very good. The reason we lost time at the first vet check was the horse getting excited very quickly which influenced the recovery. You see that the other times the horse was calm and the recovery amazing.”
The race kept up its promise and the battle went to the wire with high speeds. Ten seconds separated the podium finishers with Mohammad Al Marri proving to be just a bit stronger than his two biggest competitors Rashed and Humaid Al Mazrooie (Shahab) who crossed the line together.

For F3 Stables this is a very sweet victory: “What a race. Mohammad was leading after the second loop, lost the lead after the third one but with such a close competition the positions at that stage don’t mean anything because it’s all so close together. Nobody could predict how it would go in the final loop. Did you see that the top six was within half a minute to start? We kept the pressure on and it worked out to be the good strategy. This is the reward for all the hard work we do.”.

Dubai Crown Prince Endurance Cup – 18 March 2017

By Admin

Mohammad Al Marri and F3 best of the best

Today was the final day of the Dubai Crown Prince Festival with the very much anticipated Dubai Crown Prince Endurance Cup.
Distance was 119km, spread over four loops: 39, 32, 30 and 18km.

This fourth race day of the week was proceeded with competitive racing, a good atmosphere and incredible high number of entries.

On Friday afternoon, there were not only pre-ride inspections and rider’s weigh-in but also pony races for the future champions.
It was some serious racing but it also brought a lighter moment to a very passionate filled week of high quality racing.

We saw a total of 325 entrants, with a quarter coming from abroad, for the pinnacle of racing.

First rider to come in after the first loop was Mansoor Al Sabri (Techno de la Basanne) and although he had a slightly longer recovery he kept his position.
The riders behind him were the usual top runners but a surprise position was for Rashed Al Mazrooie (Al Theeb) in 24th position and Salem Al Kitbi (Ormiu) who was 43rd

After the second loop the leading group was still close together led by Mohammad Al Marri (SM Jota Curado).
But also here we saw the same scenario as the previous days that top places shifted around and riders from behind climbed into the top ten.

The leading pack coming in at the third loop were 15 riders and the recovery would decide the peaking order for the final loop.

New leader was Salem Al Kitbi who by now was forgotten the long recovery time in the first loop but his advantage was only 14 seconds on Mohammad Al Marri. The top six was only separated by 26 seconds.

As expected the top six became one group after a short time.
Behind them Nesreen Khalid (Vista du Barthas) did a big effort to come closer to the front runners but the pace was too high. She finished sixth place, a well-managed race where she was never outside the top ten.

Salem Al Kitbi was the first contender to let go the others and would finally finish seventh: “The horse is very good. The reason we lost time at the first vet check was the horse getting excited very quickly which influenced the recovery. You see that the other times the horse was calm and the recovery amazing.”
The race kept up its promise and the battle went to the wire with high speeds. Ten seconds separated the podium finishers with Mohammad Al Marri proving to be just a bit stronger than his two biggest competitors Rashed and Humaid Al Mazrooie (Shahab) who crossed the line together.

For F3 Stables this is a very sweet victory: “What a race. Mohammad was leading after the second loop, lost the lead after the third one but with such a close competition the positions at that stage don’t mean anything because it’s all so close together. Nobody could predict how it would go in the final loop. Did you see that the top six was within half a minute to start? We kept the pressure on and it worked out to be the good strategy. This is the reward for all the hard work we do.”.